Robinson Crusoe on Mars - Criterion Collection dvd movie.|
Robinson Crusoe on Mars - Criterion Collection buy bestselling dvd movies, videos find reviews, ratings, prices |
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List Price: $39.95 Our Price: $31.99 You Save: $7.96 Features • Color • Widescreen • NTSC • Subtitled In Theaters : June, 1964 DVD Release : 18 September, 2007 |
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Robinson Crusoe on Mars - Criterion Collection description Although it is a thoughtful and surprisingly nonexploitative movie, the title Robinson Crusoe on Mars might conjure up unholy echoes of cross-pollinated genre movies such as Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter or Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Well, don't worry. This 1964 space epic is in fact an adaptation of the classic Daniel Defoe novel, and it plays fair by logic and science. After his spaceship crash-lands on Mars, astronaut Paul Mantee must figure out how to survive on the hostile planet (shot mostly in Death Valley), aided only by a monkey from his ship. Director Byron (The War of the Worlds) Haskin's sober approach brings a refreshing emphasis to issues of survival--how many space travel movies have you seen where the traveler tests the air of a distant planet and discovers that, by George, he can breathe just fine? Not this one. Mantee's desperate methods of tracking his air flow and experimenting with methods of breathing are painstakingly explored, and seem like exactly the kind of problems a real planetary voyager would encounter. The second half of the picture cleverly blends Defoe's plot with sci-fi conventions, and the movie never does "dumb down." The Criterion Collection's DVD of Robinson Crusoe on Mars is a handsome treatment of a minor classic. A commentary track stitches together comments from a variety of participants, including Mantee, Haskin (in a 1979 interview), and original screenwriter Ib Melchior (disagreements between Haskin and Melchoir are included). A featurette, Destination--Mars gives some of the "science fact" behind the movie, and excerpts from Melchoir's original treatment show suggest changes made. And a "music video" puts movie clips alongside a song written and performed by co-star Victor Lundin, a number he developed for his appearances at sci-fi conventions. --Robert Horton |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | Colorful |
| Not as well known or beloved as George Pal and Byron Haskin's WAR OF THE WORLDS and THE TIME MACHINE, this humble film nevertheless displays the adventurous use of color, unusual setting, and unexpected event that characterizes those two more popular films. It links to both films as well--the natural resources of Mars are mined by invaders who use flying search-machines reminiscent of those in WAR OF THE WORLDS; and the key tools of those invaders are slaves, oppressed and victimized by the invaders' reign of terror, much as the Eloi were the victims of the mining Morlocks in THE TIME MACHINE. More understated than naive, this pared-down science fiction adventure is a delightful watch in a gorgeous transfer. | |
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